[drieddust]

Unattached action is the central message of epic Hindu text Bhagwad Gita.Two shlokas (verses) I find extremely comforting are [2.47] and [3.5].

Verse [2.47] says:

1) Only rightful action is in your control.

2) Fruits of your action is never in your control.

3) Give up the pride of doership .

4) Last but not the least do not get into inaction.

Verse 3.5 says:

No body can remain inactive even for a second. All living being have to act even to sustain their bodies.

Anyone interested in stoicism should also read it from a good translation.

[sifar]

There is also that when you are too enamored by the results of your action, it gets in the way of doing.

The Tao Te Ching also talks about not striving for things.

It is interesting that these three philosophies from three different civilizations at different times overlap in their outlook to life, which hints at something permanent. It would be great to map the migration of these ideas between them and how we arrived at the diverged modern day outlook.

[drieddust]

I think ancient people have gone through same struggles and came up with similar answers and they also exchanged ideas.

> enamored by the results of your action

Bhagwad Gita is poetry and philosophy but it also reasons from the first principle. How attachments leads to self destruction is deducted so well in verse 2.62 and 63. I can read/recite Sankrit a little and it's so amazing to think that you can have poetry and step by step reasoning in same verse.

Reasoning goes like this:

Verse 2.62

1. When one deliberates the fruits of the action, they get attached to it.

2. Attachment leads to desire.

3. Desire lead to the anger.

Verse 2.64 carried the thought forward and finished it.

4. Anger leads results in confusion.

5. Confused person loses the memory.

6. Loss of memory leads to destruction of intellect which lead to complete destruction.

All of this sound much more melodic and transcendental when you can understand.